Jimmy Butler On Derrick Rose: 'He's Always Been Supportive Of Me Being Aggressive' Offensively
(CBS) Staying in the limelight of the offseason after recently signing a five-year deal worth around $92 million, Bulls wing Jimmy Butler took to various ESPN platforms Thursday and downplayed that any friction exists with teammate Derrick Rose on court or otherwise, talk that's surrounded the two ever since Chicago's embarrassing and disconcerting season-ending loss to Cleveland in Game 6 of the second round and that has heated up with the Bulls set to have the NBA's highest-paid backcourt next season.
"I don't think it matters," Butler said in an interview with First Take's Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith. "If we win, this isn't an issue. but since we lost, it's an issue. I think it gives y'all something to talk about, to tell you the truth. But if we win a championship, nobody's worried about any of that. The only reason it came up is because we lost. I don't think we have any beef or whatever you want to call it. I just think we want to win. We didn't win, so now we're beefing and we have a problem with each other? I don't think that's the case."
Off the court, Butler's explained he and Rose don't hang out much because Butler prefers to spend time with his circle of friends -- he has five of them on his payroll that he considers "family," he confirmed in another interview with ESPN's Cari Champion -- while Rose has a young son to raise. On the court, Butler believes the two are on the same page, even if new challenges presented themselves as he took on a bigger offensive role in averaging 20.0 points during his first All-Star campaign in 2014-'15.
"He's always been supportive of me being aggressive, especially on offense," Butler said. "We all know I'll be the aggressor on defense. From what I can tell, the guy's always been in my corner."
Butler continued to express confidence that the Bulls can beat the Cavaliers, despite LeBron James' dominance of Chicago in the postseason.
"You think I'm going to say 'yeah' to that question?" Butler said when asked if Cleveland should be the East favorite.
"I like our chances. I don't think anybody plays this game to lose, so I'm not going to say the Cavs are going to win the East.
"Why can't we be the favorite?"
Still, Butler admitted the talk must turn into action after a rocky 2014-'15 campaign in which consistency eluded Chicago.
"We have to prove ourselves," Butler said. "We have to win. We can't keep saying, 'This is our year, this is our year, this is our year' and not make it happen. It is a concern, but I really think we're capable of it if everybody stays healthy and we just play together and play hard. We really can win, but I'm just saying it, like … 'We got to make it happen."
Butler understandably sidestepped a question on why Tom Thibodeau wore thin on those in the organization and was fired, instead praising his former coach. It was under Thibodeau that Butler has led the league in minutes per game each of the past season seasons. He's ready to do the same under first-year coach Fred Hoiberg too.
"I want to play because when I was a rookie and wasn't playing, I was always nagging, 'I want to play, I want to play,'" Butler said. "Well, he gave me more minutes than anyone in the league. I can't complain and never will complain. I love this game. If that's what my team needs me to do, that's what I'm going to do, play however many minutes."